Cops: Man rescued while swimming in channel near Long Beach

Nassau County Police Marine Bureau officers rescued a man who became fatigued while swimming across the Wreck Lead Channel section of Reynolds Channel under the Long Beach Bridge late Monday morning.

Police said the incident was reported in a 911 call of a swimmer in distress at 11:45 a.m.

“The swimmer became tired and began to struggle in the water,” police said in a news release.

Three officers from Marine 6 responded to the area, which separates Long Beach from Island Park, and were able to pull the 33-year-old Hempstead man from the strong currents.

The identity of the man was not released. Police said he was taken to a hospital as a precaution, but said he was otherwise uninjured. He refused further medical attention, police said.

With Nicole Fuller

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”